Saturday, November 17, 2012

If you want to know exactly how your neighbors or rather your county did, check out the CDC's brand new County Data Interactive Atlas (may take some time to load), select your state and click on your county. Unfortunately, it's not exactly likely that you will be pleasantly surprised after all, places with rates below 6.5% (white on the map) have become rare, while those with 11.2% or more are becoming the norm.

"100%" - In words: One hundred percent, that's the SuppVersity figure of the week and at the same time the rate at which the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in 14 of the US states grew faster in the years between 1995 and 2000 than previous estimates had predicted. The CDC has published this figure along with more information and the link to their brand new County Data Interactive Atlas in their weekly report on November 15, 2012. The Top 5 offenders on the list that's attached to the report are (1) Oklahoma (226 percent), (2) Kentucky (158 percent), (3) Georgia (145 percent), (4) Alabama (140 percent),
and (5) Washington (135 percent).

No reason to worry, though, my American friends! According to their own assessment, the CDC and its partners are working on "a variety of
initiatives to prevent type 2 diabetes and to reduce complications in
those already diagnosed."... you see,all is going to be good! Your well-meaning government is taking care of the problem ;-)

I guess that's enough sarcasm and useless statistics for the day. Let's get down to some serious On Short Notice business, now. And what would be more obvious than to start with something that's probably still not on the radar of the CDC or any its smart partners over at the NIH who are still promoting a high carb + low fat diet to people who can hardly tolerate the amount of carbohydrates in a TicTac. What I am talking about? The predispositioning effects of a fat-deficient toddler diet...

Fat loving toddlers grow up to be leaner adults (Rolland-Cachera. 2012) -- To determine whether nutritional intakes in early life are associated with body composition and hormonal status at 20 years, a group of researchers from the University of Paris analyzed data from 73 subjects, who had been part of a two-decade-long prospective study (ELANCE, Etude Longitudinale Alimentation Nutrition Croissance des Enfants).

Associations of specific factors that increase the risk of being obese in the kindergarten as based on another study that's also been published ahead of print in the online version of Obesity (Flores. 2012):

born to an obese mother + 240% risk

gestational diabetes and gestational diabetes + 190%

drinking tea or coffee between meals before bedtime at 2 years old +230% and drinking sugary beverages at kindergarten age at least weekly + 130%

Latino or multiracial + 130% race ethnicity

ever-attending center-based daycare -70%

eating fruit at least weekly at kindergarten age -70

maternal history of a prior newborn birth weight greater than or equal to 4000g -90%

If you do have or plan to have kids, you should maybe make a mental note on some of these.

The kids, now all young adults had been examined twice, at the age of 10 months and with 2 years. During the recent followup, the body weight, height, subscapular and triceps skinfold thicknesses, fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM) and serum leptin concentration of the young adults (now twenty years of age) were recorded in order to identify associations between early nutrition and adult body weight.

The adjusted linear regression models Rolland-Cachera and colleagues used to analyze the data actually showed a couple of significant associations, the first one of which, i.e. the fact thatan increase by 100 kcal in energy intake at 2 years was associated with higher subscapular skinfold thickness (β=6.4%, P=0.002) and higher FFM (0.50 kg, 0.06–0.95, P=0.03) at 20 years, seems to stand in line with the hilarious calories-in-vs-calories-out hypothesis. However, these associations could also be related to the fact that early nutrition will program our satiety response, so that those programmed to be "good eaters" by a less nurturing diet in their earliest childhood will remain "good eaters", even when they switch to the energy-laden standard American diet.

Against that background, the second significant association the researchers observed, i.e. the fact that an increase by 1% energy from fat at 2 years was associated with lower subscapular skinfold thickness (−2.3% SF, −4.41 to −0.18, P=0.03), lower FM (−0.31 kg, −0.60 to −0.01, P=0.04) and lower serum leptin concentration (−0.21 μg l−1, −0.39 to −0.03, P=0.02) at 20 years appears to be even more important. After all, it looks like the Rolland-Cachera et al. had found the first relatively convincing evidence (not proof, yet) for the negative metabolic effect of early low fat diets in human beings:

"Low-fat intake in early life was negatively associated with body fat (particularly at the trunk site) and serum leptin concentration at 20 years, suggesting that early low-fat intake could increase the susceptibility to develop overweight and leptin resistance at later ages. These findings substantiate current recommendations against restricting fat intake in early life and open new directions for investigating the origin of obesity." (Rolland-Cachera. 2012)

Now let's just hope that scientists are actually tackling these "new directions" and - more importantly - that the respective results are recognized by the public and incorporated into the "dietary guidelines".

Study suggests: If you could chose only one, your intraworkout nutrition should be a carbohydrate not a protein supplement (Kazemzadeh. 2012) -- This is at least the authors' own interpretation of the results of a recent study that was conducted by three researchers from the Azad University and the Teheran University in Iran.

Figure 1: Changes in hormone levels from pre to post exercise (Kazemzadeh. 2012). If you focus solely on statistical significance you can be likewise mislead as, when you don't even check whether you findings are significant at all.

According to the statistically significant part of the hormonal response of the 18-25-year-old subjects (university students who selected physical training course, but had no prior training experience), the consumption of an intra-workout supplement containing either 10 ml/kg of a 6% glucose solution was in fact "less catabolic" than during the same strength training routine with a 0.2 g/kg protein shake (PRO group) as an intra-workout supplement. On paper that's certainly true: The increased insulin response "enhances removal of amino acids and synthesis of proteins after the resistance exercise, on the one hand, and decreases the activity of proteolytic enzymes" (Kazemzadeh. 2012) and the non-existant increase in cortisol is in fact what scientists have long heralded as the goto indicators of anabolism.

Note: Just as most of these studies the participants did not consume breakfast before the resistance exercise session,which comprised six selected exercises: The bench press, biceps curl with barbell, side stretch, leg press, knee stretch, knee bending. If the study had been conducted after a regular breakfast ~2-3h before the workout, the study could have yielded totally different effects with respect to both, the blunted insulin, as well as the increased cortisol response. On the other hand, the GH spike in the protein group would most certainly have been lower as well. After all, the latter is - as you may have read in the SuppVersity Facebook Newsearlier today - basically only a means by which your body taps into its fat reservoirs to satisfy his acute energy demands and not strictly a way to protect lean mass (Gahete. 2012).

I do still have serious doubts about the real-world significance of the temporary blunt in cortisol. After all, the immediate post-workout response is, in contrary to sustained elevations of cortisol levels for hours or days after a workout, associated with an increase, not a decrease in skeletal muscle hypertrophy (West. 2012) and in essence nothing else, but a physiological adaptation that's necessary to maintain stable blood glucose levels during strenuous workouts and sooth the early burst of inflammation after a workout. Moreover, despite being only borderline significant, only the protein shake did increase growth hormone (p=0.057), testosterone (p=0.52) and IGF-1 (p=0.51) levels during the workout.

This does not necessarily refute the benefits of carbohydrate supplementation during a workout, but if you insist on maximizing gains (not necessarily all lean I would guess) at all costs, it may be wise to consume a slow digesting protein + some fiber-laden carbs like oats 1-2h before a workout, to sip a light carbohydrate + BCCA drink intra- and wash everything down with another shake w/ whey protein and one or two bananas afterwards instead of just drinking some sugar water while you are lifting.

Iron is a negative predictor of gastric cancer in humans and lowered hemoglobin and hematocrit levels induce insulin in rodents (Cook. 2012; Davis. 2012) -- While the alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene cancer prevention study was a failure (at least with respect to the expected benefits of the anti-oxidants), there are still a couple of interesting side-findings.

One of these side-findings pertains to the touted effects of increased iron intake on the etiology of gastric cancer, which is simply not existent. According to Cook et al. there were statistically significant negative associations for ferritin in the 2nd, 3rd quartile (-33% risk and -48% risk, respectively) and a borderline significant risk reduction of -31% for overall gastric cancer in the highest quartile (>241 ng/ml) and statistically nonsignificant decreases in gastric cancer risk for total iron, transferrin saturation and total dietary iron intake per 1,000kcal/day in the 2nd-4th quartiles of the respective serum parameters.

That said, subsequent adjustments for H. pylori and then gastric atrophy did not materially affect a majority of the estimates ...

"[...] the only exception was that the relationship between ferritin and GNCC [Gastric noncardia cancer] was attenuated There was little evidence for direct associations between iron metrics and H. pylori seropositivity or gastric atrophy (low pepsinogen I)—only serum ferritin appeared to share a relationship with these variables, and this relationship was stronger between ferritin and gastric atrophy." (Cook. 2012)

So if "red meat is bad for you" it is probably not the iron content of the meat that is responsible for the observed associations of gastric cancer and high red meat intake in some previous studies (cf. WCR Fund. 2011).

And with respect to its effect on glucose metabolism, a recent rodent study has just shown that a reduction in hemoglobin and hematocrit due to a lack of dietary iron does actually impair, not improve glucose management in otherwise healthy rodents fed an iron-deficient diet:

"Hemoglobin and hematocrit were significantly reduced in both ID groups compared to the C and PF groups. Similarly, animals in the both ID groups exhibited elevated steady-state levels of blood glucose and insulin [...]

[Moreover, hepetic]epatic gene expression analyses revealed a ~4- and 3-fold increase in the expression of glucokinase and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase-4 mRNA, respectively, in the ID group on either diet compared to their respective PF [pairfed on iron sufficient diets] counterparts" (Davis. 2012)

The accompanying negative effects on triglycerides and fatty acid synthesis and storage Davis et al. observed were yet exclusive to the animals who received a high succrose iron-deficient diet.

Vitamin C, D & E in health not disease - Only alpha-tocopherol shows negative correlation with markers of inflammation (Garcia-Bailo. 2012)-- A very recent study that has been conducted by researchers from the University of Toronto and the University of Guelph
did not find any relation between the novel and the old savior of the
human race, i.e. vitamin D and C, respectively and expression of
inflammatory cytokines.

Plain Vitamin E in its alpha-tocopherol
form, which has almost been written off after the selenium + E (and E
only) cancer trials, on the other hand, showed statistically significant
correlations with interferon-gamma and RANTES, a pro-inflammatory
cytokine that is also known as CCL5 and the acronym for "egulated and normal T cell expressed and secreted" plays an important role in various immune processes, such as recruitment of leukocytes to sites of inflammation and mediating T cell and monocyte traffic.
In view of the fact that this cytokine has also been shown to increase
angiogenesis and is generally elevated in several inflammatory
conditions, including atherosclerosis, these results would suggest that
keeping an eye on your E-levels is about as, if not more important for
young healthy individuals than vitamin C and D.

If you also
consider the fact that IL-1RA (by the way not necessarily inflammatory),
interferon gamma, IP-10, PDGF-bb and RANTES were the only out of 27
cytokines the researchers initially measured with high enough
concentrations to be detect accurately in the 1007
subjects with a BMI of ~23 and a weekly activity level of ~7Met,
these results do also provide substantial evidence that it would
probably be worth spending more money on studies that investigate what
it is that makes normal people healthy, instead of spending bazillions of
dollars into the 1001st study on how people with XYZ (pt your favorite disease here) have low vitamin D
levels *yawn*.

Check out the Website of the Reigning Canadian Kettlebell Biathlon Champion, Ameer Rosic for some workout videos

A sixpack of kettlebell studies to remind trainers and trainees, alike, that there are more things you can lift than just dumbbells and barbells (various authors) -- I have never gotten hooked to kettlebells myself and would never agree to exchange my barbells and dumbbells for the finest set of kettlebells for more than one week, but if you take a look at some of the studies that have been published in the past 12 months or so, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that the incorporation of kettlebell workouts into your routine, as a means to provide new muscular and metabolic stimuli, could yield highly beneficial results:

Kettlebell swings restore and enhance back health and function
(McGill. 2012) On the basis of electromyography, ground reaction forces
(GRFs), and 3D kinematic data the researchers determined that
kettlebell swings create a "hip-hinge squat pattern characterized by
rapid muscle activation-relaxation cycles of substantial magnitudes
(∼50% of a maximal voluntary contraction [MVC] for the low back
extensors and 80% MVC for the gluteal muscles with a 16-kg kettlebell)
resulting in about 3,200 N of low back compression." The way the swings
activate the abs and the unique loading patterns
of the posterior shear of
the L4 vertebra on L5, which is opposite in polarity to a traditional
lift could make it a valuable tool in re- and prehab.

Kettlebell swing training improves maximal and explosive strength (Lake 2012) 21 healthy men were randomly assigned to either a kettlebell (KB) or jump squat (JS) training twice a week. The KB group performed 12-minute bouts of KB exercise (12 rounds of 30-second exercise, 30-second rest with 12 kg if lower than 70 kg or 16 kg if higher 70 kg). The JS group performed at least 4 sets of 3 JS with the load that maximized peak power—Training volume was altered to accommodate different training loads and ranged from 4 sets of 3 with the heaviest load (60% 1RM) to 8 sets of 6 with the lightest load (0% 1RM). The increase in maximum strength of 9.8%, as well as explosive strength (+19.8%) were identical in both groups

Kettlebell training has "has potential for improving some components of MetS in middle-aged women." (Moreno. 2011): While the changes the author of the thesis observed in response to 10 weeks twice weekly kettlebell training did not reach statistically significance (probably due to the low subject size of N=6 physically inactive women, mean age (mean age 48.8y, BMI 31.8) the trends in " fasting glucose and body fat were encouraging and suggest that
kettlebell training has potential for improving some components of MetS
in middle-aged women."

Kettle bell workouts can decrease blood pressure (Douglass.
2012): Eight resistance trained pre-hypertensive and HTN males saw
statistically and more importantly clinically significant declines in
blood pressure (to normal levels!) in the course of a randomized
cross-over designed study which included 12 minutes of
continuous two-handed swings (THS), three sets of a 6 exercise circuit
(CIR), and a resting control (CON).

Kettlebell training can improve strength, power and and endurance (Mannocia. 2012): 23 subjects (age 18-72 years) were required to perform a10-week kettlebell training program that took place in a
group setting two times per week. Post hoc pairwise comparisons of assessments barbell clean and jerk, barbell bench press, maximal
vertical jump, and 450 back extensions performance revealed significant time x group interaction and a main effect (p
< 0.05) for the bench press, a trend
toward a time x group interaction and a significant main effect for clean and jerk. These observations suggest "that kettlebells may be an effective alternative tool to
improve performance in weight- and powerlifting".

10 min of treadmill running may burn more more energy, than a short 10-min kettlebell drill, but pro-anabolic & strength edurance effects speak in favor of 'the bells' (McGill. 2012): Only those who still believe in santa... ah, I mean the calories in vs. out theory of weight loss, will probably care, whether they are burning 12.5 or 17.1kcal/min and therefore this "advantage" would hardly be important even if the participants had not been sprinting part of their 10min on the treadmill just to make sure to achieve the prescriped (identical) rates of perceived exertion. And as usual, there is no reason, why you could not switch back and forth from one "drill" to another.

That's it once more for this week's installment of pretty longish short news. I hope you liked one or another and will see you tomorrow for some more information on the latest and greatest from the world of exercise and nutrition sciences. And just in case you have not seen those already, I guess there are a handful of news on facebook you may be interested in:

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